4.1. DATA COLLECTION
The information presented in this section was collected by conducting unstructured
interviews and researcher’s observations during the hospital visits. They are
illustrated chronologically.
Monday 5th October 2009
The first interview was done at Derby Foundation Hospital NHS Trust.
Ray Foley who is a Service Improvement Practitioner explained the process that a
patient has to go through by using the diagram displayed in figure 4.1.
Figure 4-1The Patient flow process at Derby Hospital (Adapted from Ray Foley)
According to the diagram in figure 4.1, he explained that since 2008, an 18 weeks
target has been applied to every out-patient that comes to every hospital within NHS
Trusts. It starts from the day that a patient is referred to the hospital by GP (General
Practitioner) until the operation day or the day that a treatment is started.